Video here:
http://www.wlos.com/shared/newsroom/top_stories/wlos_vid_1383.shtmlAsheville Mayor Addresses Gas Shortage (09/23/08)
Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy takes action to try and get fuel shipments restarted to the area.
Deliveries have dwindled because of Hurricane Ike and long lines form at stations as soon as a tanker arrives.
Many drivers end up waiting hours in a line, some running out of gas, only to be turned away because the station has run out again.
Mayor Bellamy says she has been talking to Governor Mike Easley's office as well as fuel distributors to see what can be done.
One chain that has had gas shipments on a regular basis is Hess, which gets fuel from Wilmington.
Bellamy is proposing that other stations be allowed to take deliveries from that distributor as well.
Otherwise, she says, it could be a long time before people can get gas.
"It's time for us get in and intervene in this issue because we're looking at a time frame of about another 5 to 10 days of non-normalcy," said Mayor Bellamy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I couldn't get to work today..
http://www.motherjones.com/blue_marble_blog/archives/2008/09/9875_asheville_nc_is.htmlAsheville, NC is Out of Gas
The city of Asheville, North Carolina and surrounding towns are so short on gas that residents must wait over an hour to fill their tanks, reports the Asheville Citizen-Times.
Many gas stations have closed altogether. Those which remain open have police stationed at the pumps to prevent fights from breaking out—one driver threatened another with a baseball bat. Asheville officials have canceled all nighttime events, and the county is asking that nonessential employees work from home or switch to a four-day week.
The gas crunch began after Hurricanes Gustav and Ike swept through the Gulf Coast, shutting down the oil refineries that supply western North Carolina. Because of its relatively remote location high in the Blue Ridge mountains, county officials estimate that shortages in the Asheville area will continue at least through the end of the month.
Storm recovery efforts, for obvious reasons, usually focus on the places that suffer the worst damage. But as this year's floods and hurricanes have shown us, infrastructure damage in one part of the country can have serious effects on the others. While Asheville's situation is extraordinary, it's likely to become more common as the frequency of severe storms increases.
So whose responsibility is it to deal with this problem? Several people told the Citizen-Times that they think the federal government should step in get the city moving again, perhaps by tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. In the long term, a coherent federal disaster protocol might help us to set our priorities (though I'm not holding my breath). Any Asheville readers out there? Let us know how things are going in the comments.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/29600639.html Gas Shortage Fuels Fights
Posted: 8:04 AM Sep 23, 2008
Fights broke out between motorists waiting in long lines for fuel at an Asheville station and managers called police for help.
The Asheville Citizen-Times reported that three fights occurred Monday at Roadrunner Shell. Station manager Marsha Messer directed lines of cars in her lot and said people are panicked about the shortage.
Some experts say Asheville's distance from the Colonial Pipeline could be adding to the shortage. The pipeline is the main source of East Coast gasoline supplies that were reduced after Hurricane Ike closed oil refineries on the Gulf Coast.
Buncombe County deputy fire marshal Mack Salley said he's talked to local distributors who said they're sending trucks to get gas and they're coming back empty.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reser
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
